The FastDay Forum

Hi, I'm new to the forum and on day 1 of week 2. Over the past few months, I have gradually been making my diet healthier, with little to no meat, organic food, whole grains, veggies, and I don't find fasting too hard, especially this method of it. However, it has done something for me that I'm amazed at...it's made me REALLY listen to my body, in a way I never did before. I have felt one symptom that I couldn't figure out in the past, but it happened so rarely that I never thought very much about it. Its a feeling of light to moderate pressure in your throat and mouth, a bit uncomfortable, and similar to a sensation of being worried or anxious. Since I've been fasting, I thought it might be related. After some research, it seems that real, true hunger is felt in your throat and mouth rather than your head or stomach (of course if your stomach is growling, that might be a surefire sign). I never knew this!
There's a guy called Dr. Joel Furhman (he has his own diets though please note I'm not advocating or advertising anything here...just quoting his scientific research) who believes 'throat hunger' is true hunger. Verbatim from a paper he's written with others, "Sensations such as fatigue, weakness, stomach cramps, tremors, irritability and headaches, commonly interpreted as “hunger”, resolve gradually for the majority of people who adopt a high nutrient density diet, and a new, less distressing, sensation (which we label “true” or“throat” hunger) replaces it."
Of course, if you set out to do internet research, especially on forum posts, people do equate the feeling with other syndromes, diagnoses etc. But since we're all adapting our diets here (and feeling hungry too!), I think its safe to assume that this might be it. Of course the crucial question here is - is anybody else experiencing this??

p.s.- If interested in the paper, you can Google "Changing perceptions of hunger" by him.

[Moogie]

Hi Dapper & welcome!
I think I know that feeling, but never really knew what it was - I think I've always read it as a thirst. I'll certainly be more aware of it now if it should happen and will try to find time to read up on it as it sounds really interesting.

Unfortunately right now I have work to do

Anyway, thanks for this interesting post - I hope you find other interesting stuff here at the forums

[carorees]

Paper here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21054899

Looking at the related citations on PubMed suggests it is not generally known about. I guess few people in the developed world have ever been without food long enough to experience true hunger. It seems to be a known phenomenon among people who fast for several days though.

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the warm welcome and the good work you're doing as administrators. Carorees, it seems to also have something to do with a nutrient rich diet though I'm not sure about that, as people without access or with little access to food must be experiencing it as well. Moogie, I'm sure I'll find a ton of interesting stuff here, along with a few people who seem to have fallen in love with you! Seriously though, fasting is really working for me in just 1-2 weeks. I wake up earlier, sleep well (yesterday was a fast day but slept like a baby all night), am more positive and energetic and more focussed at work, not to mention proud of myself (not really for eating less but for listening to my body more). And its really great to find a forum where you can share your thoughts, as I haven't really told too many people I'm doing it, cos I don't want people trying to sabotage me or thrust their opinions down my throat. So, thanks again for letting me in. Cheers!

Hi and welcome Dapper, can't say I've experienced what you describe but then I do have a throat condition which I blame everything on:)

[carorees]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and on day 1 of week 2. Over the past few months, I have gradually been making my diet healthier, with little to no meat, organic food, whole grains, veggies, and I don't find fasting too hard, especially this method of it. However, it has done something for me that I'm amazed at...it's made me REALLY listen to my body, in a way I never did before. I have felt one symptom that I couldn't figure out in the past, but it happened so rarely that I never thought very much about it. Its a feeling of light to moderate pressure in your throat and mouth, a bit uncomfortable, and similar to a sensation of being worried or anxious. Since I've been fasting, I thought it might be related. After some research, it seems that real, true hunger is felt in your throat and mouth rather than your head or stomach (of course if your stomach is growling, that might be a surefire sign). I never knew this!
There's a guy called Dr. Joel Furhman (he has his own diets though please note I'm not advocating or advertising anything here...just quoting his scientific research) who believes 'throat hunger' is true hunger. Verbatim from a paper he's written with others, "Sensations such as fatigue, weakness, stomach cramps, tremors, irritability and headaches, commonly interpreted as “hunger”, resolve gradually for the majority of people who adopt a high nutrient density diet, and a new, less distressing, sensation (which we label “true” or“throat” hunger) replaces it."
Of course, if you set out to do internet research, especially on forum posts, people do equate the feeling with other syndromes, diagnoses etc. But since we're all adapting our diets here (and feeling hungry too!), I think its safe to assume that this might be it. Of course the crucial question here is - is anybody else experiencing this??

p.s.- If interested in the paper, you can Google "Changing perceptions of hunger" by him.

I thought I'd revive this old topic as I've been feeling this sensation of 'light to moderate pressure in the throat', as Dapper describes it, on fast days for quite a while now and I can't find very much about it on the internet and the paper by Dr Fuhrman is the only paper on PubMed mentioning it. I really don't know if it is really a sense of hunger or what. Last week I thought perhaps it was really the onset of a cold or something but it goes away when I'm not fasting, so perhaps it is hunger. Anyway, is anyone else experiencing this sensation?

Dapper84,
I have seen Dr Furhman give lectures on our Public Broadcasting Network and he is inspiring, the thrust of his talks are eating foods highest in macronutrients and totally eliminating the bad stuff. It's all good but requires a lot of discipline.

I have noticed over years that if a situation stresses me to the point where I am unable to eat for a few days the roof of my mouth becomes quite sore and tender and when I resume eating, the first few mouthfuls are very painful. It goes quite quickly and I always put it down to stress/anxiety, not so sure now.

Ballerina x

Now that you mention it, I have felt what I think of as cold symptoms or post nasal drip in the back of my throat. No cold developed, and went away. I'll keep track and let you know If/when I feel it again. Thanks for the posting.

Thanks dapper for the ref to the fuhrman study and to Caroline for resurrecting the post.
It's an interesting study and I particularly liked his theory on the feelings of discomfort when hungry. It's often mentioned on this forum that the discomfort is associated with metabolic inflexibility and the body being unhappy with being more reliant on fat for energy. I've never been totally convinced that that's true so was interested to read fuhrman s ideas. I'm going off topic...
Back to the throat hunger reference. I often have the minor lump in my throat type feeling on the evening of a fast or the day after, actually had it on thurs evening this week after having not eaten for nearly 24hrs and done a fairly fast 30mile road bike ride. I usually put the throat feeling down to the fact that I had a good zapping of radiation further down my windpipe a few years ago. So maybe my experiences aren't representative of the norm?